


Learning Something New

by TotidemVerbis



Series: HBO War One Shots And Drabbles [20]
Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Classic Rock, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 04:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15332100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotidemVerbis/pseuds/TotidemVerbis
Summary: They say you learn something new every day. Well, it's time for John and Evan to learn something new.





	Learning Something New

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a small contribution to the Qtip/Christeson pairing. I'm sorry there isn't more! Also, huge thanks to [satanstruemistress](http://satanstruemistress.tumblr.com/) for the amazing song choices and another huge thanks to [astreetsussserenade](http://astreetsussserenade.tumblr.com/) for inspiring me to actually finish this.

_“This was not a good idea,”_ Evan thought with a small laugh as he leaned back against the brick wall. The back door had been left cracked open, so it was easy to hear the laughter and music spilling out of the bar. 

“What is that idiot singing?” Christeson asked around a loud laugh. _Shit, wait, no_. They were back home now, back in California anyway, so the man at his side wasn't PFC Christeson right now. He was just John. Like Qtip was just Evan. For tonight, at least, while a bunch of rowdy Marines crowded into a karaoke bar. 

“Quit playin’, man, everyone knows this song,” Evan said and turned his head to meet Chri- _John’s_ eyes. 

_“Cause even when I dream of you, the sweetest dream would never do!”_ drifted out in Ray's loud voice as Evan and John just stared at each other. It was dark outside, even though they were in a busier area of the city, but it looked like there was a little bit of red in John's cheeks. Could've been from drinking or leftover heat from being in the packed bar. Maybe it was from the embarrassment of listening to Ray Person murder the song he was attempting to sing. 

“You gonna school me or just keep staring at me?” John finally asked. Evan shook his head, wondered again how much alcohol had been in that last drink Rudy had gotten him, and pulled one knee up as the world started to tilt. 

“Don't wanna miss a thing?” Completely blank look. “Aerosmith?” A little bit of recognition but still mostly blank. “Armageddon?”

“Is that the one where Bruce Willis is an astronaut?” John looked confused as the words left his mouth, and Evan would have shaken his head in exasperation if he wasn't worried that the small move would send him flying. 

“Who doesn't know Aerosmith?” Evan groaned as he clenched his eyes shut. Everything was spinning. What the hell did Rudy give him? It'd tasted like fresh fruit, but he was starting to think the drink had been pure alcohol. It was confirmed-Rudy was magic. 

“I don't.” It sounded like John was pouting, but Evan didn't risk opening his eyes to check. 

“You hatin’ on classic rock?” Evan asked in a slur. Ray's loud singing finally came to an end, and Evan slumped against the brick wall a little more. 

“Just never listened to it,” John replied. Evan had fallen to the side a little when he slid down the wall, so he felt it when John shrugged. Felt the way the sweat-sticky skin of his bare arm was pulled up and down by the movement. 

“Gonna hafta school ya,” Evan definitely slurred this time. He slid down a little more and let his head fall to the side, so that his cheek smushed against the line of John's shoulder, and felt a heavy pressure on the side of his head. John was using his damn head like a pillow. They were out of Iraq but still using each other as props when they couldn't hold themselves up anymore. 

_Snap. Snap-snap._

“They're out of it,” Evan heard some unidentifiable time later. Deep voice. Possibly amused. 

“Stafford. Christeson.” Evan snapped up into a straight sitting position, half a second behind John, and he heard quiet deep laughter as he opened his eyes. Nate was standing in front of Evan with Gunny- _Mike_ -kneeling in front of John. 

“Did you boys drink one of Rudy's drinks?” Mike asked them. They were both still looking up at Nate, since it was his voice that had caused them to snap to attention, but Evan tried to turn his focus on Mike. _Tried_. The world was spinning again, and Evan smacked his lips as he remembered downing the fruity drink. “That's a yes. I'll get Christeson.”

“Time to go, Stafford.” Nate's tone was even, but the grip on Evan's arm was gentle as he was carefully pulled to his feet. 

“Yo, Ev?” Evan had one arm slung around Nate's shoulders as the other man kept him upright, and Mike was helping John in the same way a few steps ahead of them. 

“Whatchu want now?” He heard a snort of laughter from Mike, and it looked like Nate was smiling just a little. It was hard to tell because Evan's surroundings were swirling. 

“Still gonna school me?” John asked. Right, he couldn't let his boy go uneducated on the best types of music. 

“Soon as I get off this carnival ride.” Mike and Nate both laughed at that, and he thought he heard John laughing a little as well. 

His last thought before Nate pulled him into the bar and his memory went dark was, _“Someone keep Ray away from the mic.”_

**.xXx.**

A few days after the karaoke bar, Evan and John were camped out in the living room of Mike's empty apartment. Mike had left to go see some family while he had the time, and he was letting Evan and John stay at the apartment he kept close to base so they could have some semblance of privacy. The best part? Mike had a CD player! Evan had gone around to everyone who owed him a favor and even greased a few palms, and he’d been able to get a good collection of stuff to listen to. Which meant that he was finally schoolin’ his boy.

 _“Hot time, get it while it’s easy. Don’t mind, come on up and see me,”_ was drifting out of the speakers when John laughed. They were sitting on the floor with their backs against the front of the couch, an open pizza box was on the table in front of them, and they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder so Evan could feel the laugh as well as hear it. He turned his head to see John smiling, and he raised a brow in question. 

“They sound better when Ray’s not singing,” John explained around another laugh. This time Evan joined him, even though he was doing his best to repress the sound of Person yelling out lyrics. 

“Everythin’ sounds better when Ray’s not singin’.” Evan slumped back a little more against the couch, which made him slump even more against John, but John easily held his weight up. So Evan let his eyes close and listened as the next song started. 

Evan could feel movement against his thigh and peeked an eye open. His thigh was pressed flush against John’s, so he felt the slight movement as John moved his foot to the opening music. His head rolled against the couch cushion so he could see John’s face as the song started, and he’d never admit it to anyone but the look of concentration on John’s face was kinda cute. His brows were pulled together as he listened so that there was a little wrinkle right above his nose, and his lips were parted as he silently repeated the words. After a little while, Evan realized he wasn’t even paying attention to the song. He was just focusing on John’s reactions. 

_“Big black shape, with eyes of fire…telling people their desire.”_

Maybe sitting this close when they had an entire apartment to themselves was a little out of the ordinary, but Evan felt comfortable. Since they’d been back, he hadn’t always felt right. Sometimes it felt like he didn’t even fit in his own skin, but right now? Sitting on carpet with his head leaned back against a thrift store couch, with his entire left side pressed in tight against John’s, he felt like himself again. The music wasn’t too loud, but he could feel the vibrations somewhere in his chest as John smiled and continued to move his foot along with the music. 

He trusted all his brothers, okay? In Iraq or in a bar, it didn’t really matter. He trusted all of them, because even though some of them were assholes they were still his brothers. He trusted Mike and Nate to look out for him. Those were just facts. John was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. He trusted him. Shit, they rode through Iraq together and he trusted the other man to watch his back. It was somehow more than that too. He trusted Lilley and Garza too, but he couldn’t imagine sitting with one of them like this. Sitting so close that he could feel every small movement. Sitting so close that he could watch every small change in expression. 

_“Mama take this badge from me, I can’t use it anymore. It’s getting dark, too dark to see.”_

“I know this one!” Evan didn’t move as John finally turned to look at him, didn’t even bother with trying to hide that he’d been looking straight at his friend, and he couldn’t help smiling at the proud look on John’s face. 

“You should know all o’ ‘em,” Evan pointed out. Seriously, who didn’t know the classics? John Christeson, apparently. 

“Never mattered before,” John mumbled and shrugged. Since they were so close, the small move pressed the top of John’s shoulder against Evan’s cheek. It was almost like leaning against each other in the desert, but they didn’t have to lean against each other anymore.

“Why’s it matter now?” Evan was smarter than people gave him credit before. He was good at picking up on little details, and he’d guessed correctly going by the look on John’s face. He was still smiling, just a small upturn to one side of his lips now, and Evan held still as he slouched down. Now both of them were resting their cheeks against the couch cushion, eyes level, and Evan waited for John to decide what he wanted to say. 

“’Cause it matters to you,” John finally settled on. Again, Evan was good at picking up on little details. John kept eye contact, and Evan could read between the lines. He knew whatever happened next was up to him.

This was one of those times when he should have felt…anxious, worried, possibly even a little freaked out. There were a million ways this could go wrong, another million reasons to ignore whatever kind of subtext was going on, but…Evan still felt like himself. More like himself than he’d felt in a longer time than he cared to admit. He felt more at home here, in someone else’s apartment with his best friend sitting up against him, than he did back at his actual home. 

“Looks like you’re finally learnin’.” Evan’s voice was barely above a whisper, there was no point in being loud when they were this close, and the song playing faded so that another one could take its place. 

Surprisingly, it was John that leaned forward first. Noses bumped as they laughed and then Evan leaned up just enough for their lips to fit together. He didn’t think about how wrong this could go. He didn’t think about why he shouldn’t be kissing his best friend. All he thought about was how warm and solid John felt against him, how _real_ he felt, and about how the quiet sounds John made when Evan straddled him sounded even better than the epic guitar solo echoing around the apartment. Worrying could wait. Tonight, it was Evan’s turn to learn something new.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Songs Used  
>  _I Don't Want To Miss A Thing_ by Aerosmith   
> _Rag Doll_ by Aerosmith  
>  _Black Sabbath_ by Black Sabbath  
>  _Knockin' On Heaven's Door_ by Guns N Roses
> 
> Honorable Mention  
> The song playing when Evan and John kiss for the first time is _Immigrant Song_ by Led Zeppelin. Because if you're going to have a first kiss, you need an awesome soundtrack.


End file.
